Elaine White's Life in Books

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **

Book – Vampire World
Author – Rich Douglas
Star rating - ★★★★☆
Would I read it again – Yes
Plot – well executed, well planned out, intriguing
Characters – nicely rounded, good mix of show and tell
Movie Potential - ★★★★☆
Ease of reading – very easy.

First off, this is a really unique book. The only thing I've ever read that comes close is Kaitlyn Deann's The Witches' Sleep. This was a unique, well thought out concept, with great execution.

At first I couldn't decide if the human life was real and Rob was a vampire all along, or if the whole Vampire World was an alternate reality while 'Janice' was in a coma. So when I found out the truth, I was really pleased to see that the ending was more unique than I thought.

Most importantly, you get a real sense that this was written by a teenage girl. From word phrasing, attitude and thought processes, this was entirely something I would expect to read in any girl's diary at the age of the character. It made the whole thing more believable. Another key element to the excellence of this book, was that Douglas managed to say a lot with few words. There was a great balance between show and tell, dialogue and description and characterisation versus plot.

To be honest, as I'm sure was meant, I really hated Rob, both as a human and as a vampire. I really loved Brett, who was a breath of fresh air and familiarity in a strange world. The only thing that annoyed me about him was that he couldn't accept Janice's decision to follow her mystery contact and the clues she was being led to. I understand why this is, due to what is revealed later, and I think the fact that I begin to doubt whether he's a good guy or bad guy, is a very important thing in the plot of the story. It's necessary and makes good reading; way better than having a flawless character.

There were a few minor spelling mistakes or places where one word was mixed up with something similar, which is why this was a 4 star and not a 5, because it did get a little confusing sometimes, when the wrong word appeared and didn't gel with sentence. Overall, not a frequent or massive issue though.

I was really pleased that I managed to make sense of the clues before Janice did. To be quite honest, while reading about her life in Vampire World, I tended to forget where she was really from and who she really was. Which, I think, added to the story. I think it was important for the reader to forget who Janice really was, just as she had, so that you saw everything the way she did.

Overall, this was a brilliant, imaginative story and a unique take on the vampire genre. It was well detailed, well planned and left a lot of room for intrigue and mystery, in amongst the teen romance aspect. I was really disappointed when I got to 80% and realised that there couldn't possibly be a full conclusion to the story and that disappointment continued when I reached the end and found The End of Book 1. Disappointed only because I don't yet have the next book and I really want to continue the story. I loved that this book ended with a real ending, not a major cliffhanger. There is a cliffhanger, but the story of the book as a whole is complete. You get a real feel, as the last sentence ends, that the adventure is just beginning, which is exciting. I look forward to reading book 2.